NBC Chicago 5: She donated a kidney to her husband. Now they're running the Chicago Marathon together.
Like most people living with chronic kidney disease, Lester Jakubowski didn't know he had a problem until it became a medical emergency.
"I felt like it was always pressure in my head. I [had] high blood pressure, short of breath, very weak, everything became difficult," Jakubowski said. "You walk to the stairs, it was difficult."
His wife, Aneta, took him to the emergency room, where doctors got his blood pressure under control. They also informed Lester of a big problem.
"By the way, do you know your kidneys are running at 20%?" he remembered them asking.
Within a month, they were down to 13%, and Lester was advised to sign up for the donor list.
Instead, his wife made a selfless decision to get tested.
"It was [an] instant decision that this is not his problem, it is our problem, and we have to support each other and get help," Aneta said.
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